Electronic equipment enclosure

Abstract

An electronic equipment enclosure for supporting a plurality of shelves is provided. The enclosure includes a frame having an opposed pair of upstanding, corrugated panels separated by a top and bottom corrugated panel together defining a shelf receiving cavity. The enclosure further includes a pair of mounting bracket assemblies removably attached to the upstanding panels of the frame in an opposing relationship. Each mounting bracket assembly has a set of apertures alignable with corresponding mounting apertures of the shelves to facilitate attachment of the shelves to the frame.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. An electronic equipment enclosure for supporting a plurality of shelves containing electronic equipment, each of the shelves having a first set of vertically spaced mounting holes on one end thereof and a second set of vertically spaced mounting holes on an opposing end, the electronic equipment enclosure comprising: 
       a frame having a bottom panel, a pair of parallel side panels, and a top panel connected together to define a shelf receiving cavity, the panels having grouped longitudinal flanges forming a plurality of corrugations for strengthening the frame, and each of the side panels having an interior side and an exterior side; and  
       a first bracket assembly set for supporting a first shelf of the plurality of shelves, the first bracket assembly set comprising:  
       a first bracket assembly secured to the interior side of one of the side panels, the first bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the first bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures alignable with one of the first and second sets of the mounting holes of the first shelf to permit attachment of one end of the first shelf to the first bracket assembly; and  
       a second bracket assembly secured to the interior side of the other side panel in an opposing relationship with respect to the first bracket assembly, the second bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the second bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures which are laterally spaced from the apertures of the mounting flange of the first bracket assembly to be alignable with the other set of the mounting holes of the first shelf to permit attachment of the other end of the first shelf to the second bracket assembly; and  
       a second bracket assembly set for supporting a second shelf of the plurality of shelves, the second bracket assembly set comprising:  
       a third bracket assembly secured to the interior side of one of the side panels, the third bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the third bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures alignable with one of the first and second sets of the mounting holes of the second shelf to permit attachment of one end of the second shelf to the third bracket assembly; and  
       a fourth bracket assembly secured to the interior side of the other side panel in an opposing relationship with respect to the third bracket assembly, the fourth bracket assembly including a mounting flange extending into the shelf receiving cavity, the mounting flange of the fourth bracket assembly having a plurality of vertically spaced apertures which are laterally spaced from the apertures of the mounting flange of the third bracket assembly to be alignable with the other set of the mounting holes of the second shelf to permit attachment of the other end of the second shelf to the fourth bracket assembly.  
     
     
       2. A bracket assembly set interposed between a frame of an electronic equipment enclosure and a shelf supported by the electronic equipment enclosure, wherein the shelf has a first set of spaced mounting holes on one end thereof and a second set of spaced mounting holes on an opposing end, the bracket assembly set comprising: 
       a first bracket assembly adaptively secured to the frame, the first bracket assembly including a mounting flange having a plurality of apertures alignable with one of the first and second sets of the mounting holes of the shelf to permit attachment of one end of the shelf to the first bracket assembly; and  
       a second bracket assembly adaptively secured to the frame, the second bracket assembly including a mounting flange having a plurality of apertures laterally spaced relative to the apertures of the mounting flange of the first bracket assembly to be alignable with the other set of the mounting holes of the shelf to permit attachment of the other end of the shelf to the second bracket assembly.  
     
     
       3. A method of installing a plurality of electronic equipment shelves having various mounting characteristics in an electronic equipment enclosure, comprising the steps of: 
       determining the width of attaching portions of a first of the plurality of the shelves, each of the attaching portions of the first shelf having a mounting hole pattern;  
       determining the mounting hole pattern of the attaching portions of the first shelf;  
       determining the desired depth of the attaching portions of the first shelf in the enclosure;  
       providing a first mounting bracket assembly set with opposing mounting flanges to abuttingly engage and matingly align with the attaching portions of the first shelf;  
       attaching the first mounting bracket assembly set to the frame of the enclosure;  
       attaching the first shelf to the first mounting bracket assembly set;  
       determining the width of attaching portions of a second of the plurality of the shelves, each of the attaching portions of the second shelf having a mounting hole pattern;  
       determining the mounting hole pattern of the attaching portions of the second shelf;  
       determining the desired depth of the attaching portions of the second shelf in the enclosure;  
       providing a second mounting bracket assembly set with opposing mounting flanges to abuttingly engage and matingly align with the attaching portions of the second shelf;  
       attaching the second mounting bracket assembly set to the frame of the enclosure; and  
       attaching the second shelf to the second mounting bracket assembly set.  
     
     
       4. An electronic equipment enclosure for simultaneously supporting a plurality of shelves having various mounting characteristics, the enclosure comprising: 
       a frame comprising opposing side panels disposed substantially in parallel relationship and separated by a top panel and a bottom panel, the panels defining a shelf receiving cavity;  
       a first bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted to support a first shelf having a first set of mounting holes on one end and a second set of mounting holes on an opposing end spaced a first distance from the first set of mounting holes; and  
       a second bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted to support a second shelf having a first set of mounting holes on one end and a second set of mounting holes on an opposing end spaced a second distance from the first set of mounting holes which is different than the first distance of the first shelf.  
     
     
       5. An electronic equipment enclosure for simultaneously supporting a plurality of shelves having various mounting characteristics, the enclosure comprising: 
       a frame comprising opposing side panels disposed substantially in parallel relationship and separated by a top panel and a bottom panel, the panels defining a shelf receiving cavity; and  
       a first bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a first shelf having a first mounting characteristic; and  
       a second bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a second shelf having a different second mounting characteristic,  
       wherein each of the first and second bracket assembly sets has an opposing pair of bracket assemblies with each bracket assembly having a mounting flange, the mounting flanges of the first bracket assembly set providing a supporting surface for attaching the first shelf at a first depth and the mounting flanges of the second bracket assembly set providing a supporting surface for attaching the second shelf at a second depth which is different from the first depth.  
     
     
       6. An electronic equipment enclosure for simultaneously supporting a plurality of shelves having various mounting characteristics, the enclosure comprising: 
       a frame comprising opposing side panels disposed substantially in parallel relationship and separated by a top panel and a bottom panel, the panels defining a shelf receiving cavity;  
       a first bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a first shelf having a first mounting characteristic; and  
       a second bracket assembly set supported by the frame and adapted for supportingly engaging a second shelf having a different second mounting characteristic,  
       wherein the first bracket assembly set supportingly engages the first shelf at a selected height in the shelf receiving cavity, and wherein the second bracket assembly set supportingly engages the second shelf at substantially the same height as the first shelf and in a back-to-back relationship relative thereto.  
     
     
       7. The enclosure of claim  1  wherein the mounting flanges of the first bracket assembly set supportingly engage the first shelf at a first desired depth in the shelf receiving cavity and the mounting flanges of the second bracket assembly set supportingly engage the second shelf at a second desired depth in the shelf receiving cavity. 
     
     
       8. The enclosure of claim  7  wherein each bracket assembly further comprises a mounting bracket removably supported by one of the side panels, the mounting bracket supporting the respective mounting flange of the bracket assembly. 
     
     
       9. The enclosure of claim  8  wherein the mounting bracket has a first end removably attached to a flange of a first corrugation of the plurality of corrugations, a second end removably attached a flange of a second corrugation of the plurality of corrugations, and a medial portion spanning therebetween the first end and the second end. 
     
     
       10. The enclosure of claim  9  wherein the mounting flange is selectively disposed between the first and second ends of the mounting bracket in supporting the respective shelf at the desired depth within the shelf receiving cavity. 
     
     
       11. The enclosure of claim  9  wherein the mounting bracket conforms to the side panel in attaching thereto, the first end of the mounting bracket disposed substantially parallel to the flange of the first corrugation, the second end of the mounting bracket disposed substantially parallel relationship to the flange of the second corrugation, and wherein a fastener joins the first end to the flange of the first corrugation and another fastener joins the second end to the flange of the second corrugation. 
     
     
       12. The enclosure of claim  11  wherein the first bracket assembly set supports the first shelf at a desired height in the shelf receiving cavity, and the second bracket assembly set supports the second shelf at substantially the same desired height in the shelf receiving cavity and in a back-to-back relationship with the first shelf. 
     
     
       13. The enclosure of claim  1  wherein each of the side panels further comprises a plurality of substantially unformed planar portions between the plurality of corrugations, and wherein the plurality of corrugations comprises: 
       a first corrugation, comprising:  
       an outward facing flange disposed substantially orthogonal to and extending proximally from a first planar portion;  
       an opposing flange disposed so as to form an obtuse angle with and extending proximally from a second planar portion; and  
       a top flange disposed substantially parallel to the planar portions and joining a distal end of the outward facing flange and a distal end of the opposing flange; and  
       a second corrugation, comprising:  
       a first flange nearest the first corrugation disposed so as to form an obtuse angle with and extending proximally from the second planar portion;  
       an opposing flange disposed so as to form an obtuse angle with and extending proximally from a third planar portion; and  
       a top flange disposed substantially parallel to the planar portions and joining a distal end of the first flange and a distal end of the opposing flange.  
     
     
       14. The enclosure of claim  13 , wherein the mounting flange is supported by a mounting bracket of the respective mounting bracket assembly, the mounting bracket comprising: 
       a first end disposed substantially parallel to the outward facing flange of the first corrugation;  
       a second end disposed substantially parallel to the first flange of the second corrugation; and  
       a medial portion spanning therebetween the first end and the second end and disposed substantially parallel to the planar portions, wherein the medial portion supports the mounting flange.  
     
     
       15. The enclosure of claim  14  wherein the first end of the mounting bracket has an aperture and the outward facing flange of the first corrugation has an aperture matingly aligned with the first end aperture for a joining fastener to join the first end of the mounting bracket to the side panel, and wherein the second end has an aperture and the first flange of the second corrugation has an aperture matingly aligned with the second end aperture for another joining fastener to join the second end of the mounting bracket to the side panel. 
     
     
       16. The enclosure of claim  5  wherein each bracket assembly further comprises a mounting bracket removably attached to the side panels, and wherein the mounting flange depends from the mounting bracket. 
     
     
       17. The enclosure of claim  16  wherein the mounting bracket has a first end attached to the side panel by a fastening approach selected from the group consisting of a threaded fastener, a frictional fastener, crimping, and welding, and wherein each mounting bracket has a second end attached to the side panel by a fastening approach selected from the group consisting of a threaded fastener, a frictional fastener, crimping, and welding. 
     
     
       18. The enclosure of claim  17  wherein the mounting flange has an abutting surface extending substantially transversely from the mounting bracket, the abutting surface adapted to pressingly engage an attaching flange of one end of the shelf to define the depth of the installed end of the shelf within the shelf receiving cavity. 
     
     
       19. The enclosure of claim  18  wherein the mounting flange is selectively configured to place the abutting surface at a desired location between the first end and the second end of the mounting bracket in order to define the installed depth of the end of the shelf within the shelf receiving cavity. 
     
     
       20. The enclosure of claim  16  wherein the mounting flange has an aperture adapted to matingly align with a mounting hole of a selected shelf for passage of a fastener in joining the selected shelf to the mounting flange of the bracket assembly. 
     
     
       21. The enclosure of claim  17  wherein the side panel furthermore has grouped flanges forming a corrugation for stiffening the frame. 
     
     
       22. The enclosure of claim  21  wherein the side panel has a first corrugation supporting the first end of the mounting bracket, the side panel furthermore having a second corrugation supporting the second end of the mounting bracket. 
     
     
       23. The enclosure of claim  16  wherein the mounting flange is attached to the mounting bracket of the bracket assembly by a fastening approach selected from the group consisting of a threaded fastener, a frictional fastener, crimping, and welding. 
     
     
       24. The enclosure of claim  16  wherein the mounting flange is formed as a portion of the mounting bracket of the bracket assembly. 
     
     
       25. The bracket assembly set of claim  2  wherein the frame comprises a pair of upstanding panels having grouped longitudinal flanges forming a first corrugation and a second corrugation in each panel for strengthening the frame, wherein each bracket assembly comprises a mounting bracket supporting the respective mounting flange, the mounting bracket having a first end removably attached to the first corrugation and furthermore having a second end removably attached to the second corrugation.